JAMES COLE says it will be a “special day” in the history of Northern Cricket Club as they get set for the ECB Twenty20 finals day at Edgbaston.

The Crosby outfit booked their place in next month’s showpiece event - which will be screened live on Sky Sports - with a comfortable 48-run win over Neston on Sunday.

They will travel to Warwickshire on Thursday September 6th, where they will face Chester-le-Street in the semi-finals. Wimbledon and Cuckney will face off in the other last four tie.

Cole is anticipating that Northern will take a hefty travelling party to Edgbaston, and admitted he would be proud to captain the side on what will be their first ever competitive game at a Test venue.

“It’ll be very special,” he said. “We will all go down the night before, because all four of our teams are attending a pre-game dinner at the ground.

“It will be the first time Northern have played at a county ground – though we have a game at Old Trafford in the final of the LCB Knockout Cup ten days later – so it will be a historic occasion. We’re all really looking forward to it, and it’s so exciting to be a part of it.”

Northern have enjoyed a near-miraculous campaign so far, and it is one that is reaching a thrilling climax.

Having beaten local rivals Hightown by seven wickets on Saturday, they remain in the LDCC Premier Division title picture, heading into this weekend’s make-or-break clash with leaders Lytham.

Northern are still 51 points adrift, but could ramp up the pressure with a win on Saturday. They then face back-to-back games with Ormskirk, first in the semi-final of the Ray Digman Trophy, and then in a Bank Holiday Monday league clash at Moorside Park.

With a Liverpool ECHO Knockout final against Bootle still to be scheduled, it promises to be a hectic end to the campaign for Cole and his young side. Not that he is too concerned, mind.

He said: “Every game is hugely competitive, which I think has lifted our performance levels over the past few weeks.

“Everyone knows we have to be right up for every single game, and the way we have gone about it has been fantastic.

“It is great to be a part of it. We took a 50-seater minibus to Neston on Sunday, so our support was fantastic. I’m sure it will be even better at Edgbaston and Old Trafford.”

He added: “We’ve batted really well whenever we’ve had to, but our bowling and fielding have been phenomenal all season long.

“We’re not thinking too far ahead if we can help it – although that is kind of hard! - but we are going into every game thinking we can get a positive result.”

On Lytham, he added: “They’ve been fantastic this season. We beat them earlier in the year but since then they’ve won virtually every game.

“It is always a tough place to go, but we know we need to keep winning, and that will drive us on. It’s in their hands at the moment, but we feel we can go there and get a result.”